Why One-shot Information Literacy Sessions Are Not the Future of Instruction: A Case for Online Credit Courses

Yvonne Mery is Instructional Design Librarian and Jill Newby is Associate Librarian at University of Arizona Libraries; e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]. Ke Peng is Assistant Professor in Asian Studies at Western Kentucky University; e-mail: [email protected]. © 2012 Yvonne Mery, Jill Newby, and Ke Peng, Attribution-NonCommercial (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-sa/3.0/) CC BY-NC This paper reports on a research project that examined the test scores of students who took part in an online information literacy course. Researchers analyzed the preand post-test scores of students who received different types of instruction including a traditional one-shot library session and an online course. Results show that students who participated in the online course demonstrated significant improvement in their test scores compared to the other students. This study shows freshman students’ needs for more comprehensive information literacy instruction. It also shows that information literacy instruction can be effective when delivered online.